It wouldn't show up on a list of worst schools by multiple criteria, but I think that section of the article is just about the appearance of the campus.

No, Harvey Mudd (or Harvard Med if you say it really fast and jumble it) is not bad at all. It has in fact, one point, the highest national merit scholar semi-finalists by class percentage in the country. It's basically the school for Caltech rejects (which I guess, from one perspective, does make it a pretty sobering place, no pun intended).